Archive for February, 2008

Ok – so nobody has talked about this and I am profootballtalk.com-ing, if you will, right now (in other words, I’m trying to spread a rumor). I think this makes sense. I know he was injured last year, and has had trouble adapting to the Jets defensive scheme. And, I know he is a middle linebacker. Still, I am convinced he’d be an upgrade from Poppinga and we probably wouldn’t have to give up much to get him. A couple years ago, Vilma was a top 5 NFL linebacker and at age 25, I am doubtful his talent has eroded much since that time.

I also wouldn’t mind picking up Dwayne Robertson from the Jets – another of their players apparently on the trading block. Having he and Pickett plug up the middle could render opponent running games useless. And, both he and Pickett have shown some unique ability to get to the quarterback despite their massiveness.

The Super Bowl is ancient history. The Pro-Bowl is a distant memory. The much-hyped NFL combine ends today.

What is an NFL addict to do?

We’ve got two suggestions. The first, head to Profootballtalk.com on a regular basis (see blogroll). The guys at PFT post several times a day at their aptly-named “Rumor Mill” and it’s a good place to for news and a lot of stuff that will turn out to be untrue. (That’s especially the case whenever they try to gin up some kind of controversy, like they did with the Packers alleged attempts to injure Adrian Peterson.) Just read their posts with a 40 lb. bag of water softener salt and you’ll be okay.

The other, better suggestion, is drafthistory.com. It is one of my favorite football websites any time of year — yes, I’m a dork — but it’s especially helpful in the weeks leading up the NFL draft this April. You can review past NFL drafts in virtually any conceivable way you’d like to — by team, by player, by position, by school, etc. Want to review Mike Sherman’s drafts? Easy. Want to compare those drafts to Ted Thompson’s? Not a problem. They also have a good listing of the top prospects for this year’s draft, by position, complete with biographical information and college stats.

One of the funnier aspects of listening to Sirius NFL Radio is getting to hear Solomon Wilcots rather, um, unique use of the English language. In response to virtually everything said by anyone at anytime on any program, Wilcots says, “No doubt” or some version of that phrase. It’s hilarious. Anyway, his latest is to call the testing and interviewing taking place these days the NFL Cum-BINE. And he pauses after each time he says it, as if he knows it’s wrong but just can’t correct it. Amusing.

Anyway, this report from the cum-BINE has some interesting stuff in it. Darren McFadden had a workout more impressive than Adrian Peterson’s was last year. As a writer for NFL.com put it: “With a 4.33 time in the 40, the second-fastest of any player here, McFadden elevated himself to elite draft status. He is likely a top-5 pick, if not higher.” I’m not sure how, exactly, he could go higher than a Top-5 pick — maybe he could be taken before the draft, -1 — but it is impressive.

On the other hand, Michigan WR Mario Manningham was unimpressive (4.59 and 4.62 for a guy regarded as a speedster) and there’s talk of him sliding in the draft. I’m not sure where he’ll bottom out, and WR is certainly the last position the Packers need to draft at this point, but depending on how long he stays on the board, it might be tempting to snag him. He was projected as a potential first round pick before the combine and he’s got the college numbers — and highlights — to justify such a grade. He’ll get a chance to run again on Michigan’s pro-day, so his 40 times may improve. If not, and if he were to fall to, say, the third round, the Packers would have to consider him. He’ll be a player.

I’m not going to spend much time on a discussion about whether Brett Favre will or will not retire. This drama is old and Favre should certainly let the Packers know what he’s going to do before free agency starts next Thursday. I think he should play again. He was a Top-5 QB last year and he will be sorely missed if he does not come back — more than the people clamoring for him to retire realize.

But here is Jason Wilde on thoughts from other coaches on Favre. Bottom line: They’d all like him to announce it’s over. (That might also say something to the morons calling for him to quit).

Said Mike Holmgren: “You know what? I love seeing him. He plays great against me, and that’s a tough thing, but I want him to play as long as he wants to play.”

Now that’s a headline that should drive traffic to the site, hey? Think about all of the ladies across the country who have gone to Yahoo! or Google typed in that exact phrase: “Mark Tauscher Naked.”

Well, this will be a disappointment. We have no video or photos of Mark Tauscher in the buff. What we do have is a funny recollection from San Francisco 49ers GM Scott McCloughan, formerly with the Packers. McCloughan talked to Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports about the beauty contest atmosphere at the NFL Combine. The entire article is interesting and, at times, highly amusing.

“I’ve seen guys with some horrible physiques,” agent Gary Wichard says. “One big guy this year, I kid you not, had C-cups. I’ve seen man-boobs before; these were woman boobs. They looked like implants. I felt so bad for the kid, having to walk around that room with 650 people looking at him and gasping.”

Anyway, McCloughan’s Tauscher comment, which is ultimately a compliment:

“My second-to-last year in Green Bay, we drafted (offensive tackle) Mark Tauscher,” he says. “If you saw him in a pair of underwear, it was just disgusting. He was so soft. Well, guess what – the guy’s been a pretty damn good player for a long time.”

I, for one, don’t see how McCloughan could say that about Tauscher. It’s just not fair — what, 3 percent body fat? I do agree with McCloughan’s second comment, however. Tauscher has been a damn good player for a long time.

Rob Reischel has a blog post on Ted Thompson’s media appearance in Indianapolis at the NFL Combine. According to the article, Thompson denied that Favre was upset that he hadn’t heard from Thompson earlier, but then said: “I just called to make sure he was doing fine, make sure he and I were OK. And we are.”

Two quick thoughts. That comment suggests to me that there might have been some truth to reports that Favre was upset. So Thompson may not have been exactly straightforward.

On the other hand, if Favre was really upset that Thompson hadn’t been calling him, that’s weak. Favre is the one making the decision — he can call Thompson anytime. I can understand Favre wanting a little extra love from Thompson, something Thompson has seemed a little reluctant to show publicly for some reason. But this feels like junior high school, not the NFL.

Favre should make a decision soon. I had been confident he was coming back, but like many others, the time he’s taken in making a decision raises doubts. I agree with those who say Favre has earned the right to take his time. But he’s had that time.

Throughout this whole Spygate thing, it seems that Belichick and the Patriots have worked hard to play the innocent “oh, we weren’t aware of that rule” angle. But one thing I was thinking about this morning is the fact that it’s not as though Belichick jumped into the head coaching position for New England from nowhere. He was a head coach before in Cleveland and he has years of NFL experience as an assistant coach. He apparently started this taping from day one in New England which I think naturally begs the question: was he taping in Cleveland too? For someone who has been around the NFL as long as he has, it just doesn’t hold up when they say “we weren’t aware of that”. It just doesn’t hold up. Mike Martz, according to ESPN radio this morning, is hot about this whole thing and apparently a Rams player is suing the Patriots for taping the walk through because if the Rams would have won that Super Bowl, the player would have earned a higher bonus. Some think he actually has a good case.

“I think Aaron Rodgers is ready to be the quarterback,” Mike McCarthy told USA Today. “He has more than matured in the time that I’ve been with him. He’s at the point where he needs to play.”

I’m not sure how you “more than mature” — I’m picturing Rodgers with gray hair and wrinkles — but this is a pretty serious endorsement.

I remain somewhat skeptical of Rodgers. Last summer, there was a wave of reporting coming out of training camp that Rodgers looked like a new man. I hope they’re right, of course, and he looked good in the Dallas game. But we’ll need to see more.

The biggest concern? He seems very prone to injury. He will be held to ridiculously high standards because he will be replacing Brett Favre. Staying healthy for two consecutive games is a good place to start.

Have you noticed that whenever there is some sort of astrological or solar-system-type event coming (eclipses, meteor showers, Haley’s Comet), that your local weather guys change from being the nice, awkward-segue-guys to guilt-tripping threateners, as it were. Example, last night, we were informed not just about a lunar eclipse that was to take place between 9-10pm, but the emphasis of the whole message was that another such event won’t take place until 2010. The rather mole-looking weather guy actually walked toward the camera and turned threateningly serious at the moment he revealed we won’t be able to see this event again until 2010. I found myself meekly walking toward the east side of our house 10 minutes later to stare up into the sky because I found I just could not live with the guilt of missing this event and having to wait another 2 years.